NOTE: Due to early season cancellations of races, I've extended the deadline for team submissions from January 21st to January 28th. Please see bolded edits below for details
Hi all, and welcome to the 2021 CQ Ranking Manager Game! This is the eleventh edition of the game, wow! Please see below for some history, basics, and more specific rules related to dates, dopers, etc. 2020 was anything but a normal year, but mostly the "normal" rules will apply to the 2021 game, although note the later start to the season means a later deadline for team submissions.
History
The game was launched on December 8th 2010 by cyclingnews forum poster Hugo Koblet. His idea was to have a game where you build a cycling team from the website cqranking.com and its comprehensive numerical rankings of riders. What was originally meant to be a 25-team max competition that Hugo reserved the right to cancel if there was lack of interest became the most successful game in cyclingnews forum history, and has expanded to velorooms forums as well.
Hugo successfully ran the game for 3 years, and it bred various offshoots, such as a youth game, seasonal games (classics and GTs), emerging riders and riders in decline games. I took over organizing the main game for 2014 when Hugo got too busy, and have done so for the past seven years. See the second post in this thread for a roll of honour of yearly champions.
That is it for preamble. Let’s go through the more comprehensive set of rules:
Basics
The game is based on the point system developed by the website www.cqranking.com. Based on this system you will have to select a team of between 25 and 33 riders whose combined value doesn’t exceed 7500 points. 7500 points is normally under the mean for the ProTour teams, but due to reasons we are all painfully aware of, the mean for 2020 is 5528. 7500 is closest to the amount of points Team Ineos made this season, the 4th ranked of the 19 WT teams. So you can get a pretty good team with 7500 points!
Your aim then is to select a team of riders who will increase their 2020 score the most during the 2021 season. The winner of the game is the one who has selected the team with the highest combined value when the game ends.
1. How the game works
1.1. Start & Finish
The season starts when the first major race (.1 or higher) giving CQ points is held* and ends when the last major race is held. The winner will be crowned when the next update after the last major race is out.**
*normally, the game season starts when the first race giving out points is held, which is usually the Aussie nationals soon after the new year. However, with covid-scheduling pushing those back to early February, the first race as far as the game is concerned is the Vuelta San Juan starting January 24th. There are currently a few 2.2 races scheduled before then, but any points scored by riders in those races will be reflected in the first update.
*NOTE: with the cancellation of San Juan and the Mallorca races, the first scheduled race .1 or higher is GP Marseillaise on Jan 31st.
**An extension will be granted to the end of season if it is very close at the top. If any teams are within 100 points of the leader after the last major race, the season will be automatically extended until the final race of the year unless all teams within 100 points explicitly concede. As well, anyone in the top 10 can extend the season by PMing me a request to do so before the last major race starts.
(The reason for this second rule is that although minor races go through December, it is rare to have a rider in the game participate in these races, so it is sensible to end the season when people are still generally watching cycling. But if it's a very close race, it's important to crown the person who picked the best team for the year.)
1.2 Updates
Each week we will publish an update with a top 10 and a list of the high scorers and high jumpers. This will sometimes be by me, and sometimes by others – I will be setting a tentative schedule based on volunteers.
2. On doping
2.1. On ex-dopers
All riders are available to choose, except for riders who are provisionally suspended by the UCI (as of their most recent list).
Riders who have been suspended for doping and had that affect their 2020 score will not be available simply for their 2020 score. Instead, a rider’s value will be equivalent to that of his last full season; or, if he has more recently had a (not full, due to suspension) season in which he has earned more points, that season represents his value. Riders who have been suspended by the UCI (ie. Not merely provisionally suspended) are on this list.
Therefore, you can pick any rider you like, but if you want to take Kristian Koren, for example (his suspension ends in 2021), he got 41 points in 2019, but that is a partial season as his ban ended mid-season. His positive result and suspension came from 2019, meaning his last 'full' season was 2018, in which he scored 91 points. He scored fewer points in his 'partial' 2019 season, so his cost is his last 'full' season. But if he had scored, say, 300 points in 2019, that would be his cost instead.
Hopefully the lists I've provided and the rules are clear enough, but if you make an error I will try to let you know if any of your submissions fall into this category.
**NOTE: I have made a specific rule to deal with the unique case of Dylan Groenewegen, who is facing a long suspension for a non-doping offense. Briefly, he is to be treated the same as dopers, available for his 2019 cost for both the 2021 and 2022 editions of the game.
2.2. Riders getting caught during the season
If you include a rider in your team who gets caught with his hands in the cookie jar, nothing happens right away. Your rider keeps his points unless the cqranking.com deletes his results before the end of the game.
Basically, the value of a rider on cqranking.com always stands.
3. Submitting your team
3.1. How do I?
You pick between 25 and 33 riders whose combined value doesn’t exceed 7500 points and send the list to me.
As I will manually have to include the teams into the Microsoft Excel file which keeps track of the scores, please be careful that you send your team to me based on the correct formula. I don’t take any responsibility for any error you might make. If I spot an error I will do my best to contact you but I can’t guarantee anything. Of course, if you have any questions feel free to ask either here in this thread or by sending a personal message.
The layout you need to use is this:
ROGLIC Primoz
POGACAR Tadej
Etc.
Nothing else. No point scores after the name. Also, be careful that there is no “space” after the name, because I will have to delete it manually, but can't always detect these things in time for the game. If there is an error that isn't discovered until after the game starts, and that error makes your team ineligible (eg. if it puts your team over the limit) the rider will simply be deleted from the team without replacement.
To make things easier for both you and me I will link to a file for you to download in which you can type in your team and it will automatically show you the value of each rider as well as the aggregated value of your team. Then you will just have to copy your team (names only) directly from this file and send it to me.
Hopefully this clears any misunderstandings of a rider’s value as well as reduces the number of errors made in a team sent to me.
3.2. When do I?
The first race of the season will start January 24, so I want to have your team in hand on January 22 at the latest.
NOTE: the first race of the season is now January 31st, so I want teams by January 29th. That is one week later than the original post.
There are two deadlines: a submission deadline and a revision/publication deadline, spaced 24 hours apart. This is to address the issue brought up in recent years about whether it is 'fair' to allow changes after teams have seen the teams of other players, and for 'late' submissions. I would like to make this a game that is accessible to as many people as possible, yet preserve that element of fairness. So, the submission deadline will be when I want to have received all the teams. The revision and publication deadline is to allow a 24-hour period for me to look over the teams and allow a chance to people to change their team in case of error, before having access to a list of riders that other teams picked. If you get mixed up with the time zone or unexpectedly don't have internet access around the submission deadline, I will accept teams up to the revision deadline at my discretion, but if allowed those teams will not have the chance to revise in case of error.
The submission deadline is 23:59 (CET) January 21st, so early January 22nd for Aussies and sometime earlier on January 21st for North Americans. NOTE: the submission deadline has changed to 23:59 CET January 28th. The revision and publication deadline is 24 hours later; I would ask that people refrain from posting the riders on their team until after that, so midnight CET on the start of January 24th.
Please note that even though the racing season is over, it is always possible that CQ will adjust points for an earlier season race for whatever reason (eg. readjusting points for suspended dopers) Be mindful of these changes.
cqranking.com usually uploads the final update of the season on December 31, and the values in this update are the ones we’re using. However, the changes are usually very small so there’s no reason why you can’t start selecting your team already today!
Disclaimer: ensuring your team is full of eligible riders and is on budget is your responsibility. If I notice you are over budget or have an ineligible rider I will send you a message, but if you don't get back to me in time, or I don't catch it before the deadline, I will simply remove one rider to make your budget work. Obviously it is to your advantage to be able to choose all your riders, so please be diligent.
Create Your Team
Hugo created a very helpful file in 2012, referred to above, that helps avoid any errors in calculation and helps ensure you are formatting your rider names correctly. I would encourage everyone to use this option, especially if you are not confident in your spreadsheet creating skills. Please use the file attached here to create your team, then copy and paste the rider names to send to me by PM once you have it correct. Thank you.
note: the 'create your team' file has not yet been manually updated to include different scores for dopers as per rule 2.1, so it is currently wholly your responsibility to account for this.
I think that about covers everything. If you have any questions or if I forgot to add or explain anything, please let me know.
Hi all, and welcome to the 2021 CQ Ranking Manager Game! This is the eleventh edition of the game, wow! Please see below for some history, basics, and more specific rules related to dates, dopers, etc. 2020 was anything but a normal year, but mostly the "normal" rules will apply to the 2021 game, although note the later start to the season means a later deadline for team submissions.
History
The game was launched on December 8th 2010 by cyclingnews forum poster Hugo Koblet. His idea was to have a game where you build a cycling team from the website cqranking.com and its comprehensive numerical rankings of riders. What was originally meant to be a 25-team max competition that Hugo reserved the right to cancel if there was lack of interest became the most successful game in cyclingnews forum history, and has expanded to velorooms forums as well.
Hugo successfully ran the game for 3 years, and it bred various offshoots, such as a youth game, seasonal games (classics and GTs), emerging riders and riders in decline games. I took over organizing the main game for 2014 when Hugo got too busy, and have done so for the past seven years. See the second post in this thread for a roll of honour of yearly champions.
That is it for preamble. Let’s go through the more comprehensive set of rules:
Basics
The game is based on the point system developed by the website www.cqranking.com. Based on this system you will have to select a team of between 25 and 33 riders whose combined value doesn’t exceed 7500 points. 7500 points is normally under the mean for the ProTour teams, but due to reasons we are all painfully aware of, the mean for 2020 is 5528. 7500 is closest to the amount of points Team Ineos made this season, the 4th ranked of the 19 WT teams. So you can get a pretty good team with 7500 points!
Your aim then is to select a team of riders who will increase their 2020 score the most during the 2021 season. The winner of the game is the one who has selected the team with the highest combined value when the game ends.
1. How the game works
1.1. Start & Finish
The season starts when the first major race (.1 or higher) giving CQ points is held* and ends when the last major race is held. The winner will be crowned when the next update after the last major race is out.**
*NOTE: with the cancellation of San Juan and the Mallorca races, the first scheduled race .1 or higher is GP Marseillaise on Jan 31st.
**An extension will be granted to the end of season if it is very close at the top. If any teams are within 100 points of the leader after the last major race, the season will be automatically extended until the final race of the year unless all teams within 100 points explicitly concede. As well, anyone in the top 10 can extend the season by PMing me a request to do so before the last major race starts.
(The reason for this second rule is that although minor races go through December, it is rare to have a rider in the game participate in these races, so it is sensible to end the season when people are still generally watching cycling. But if it's a very close race, it's important to crown the person who picked the best team for the year.)
1.2 Updates
Each week we will publish an update with a top 10 and a list of the high scorers and high jumpers. This will sometimes be by me, and sometimes by others – I will be setting a tentative schedule based on volunteers.
2. On doping
2.1. On ex-dopers
All riders are available to choose, except for riders who are provisionally suspended by the UCI (as of their most recent list).
Riders who have been suspended for doping and had that affect their 2020 score will not be available simply for their 2020 score. Instead, a rider’s value will be equivalent to that of his last full season; or, if he has more recently had a (not full, due to suspension) season in which he has earned more points, that season represents his value. Riders who have been suspended by the UCI (ie. Not merely provisionally suspended) are on this list.
Therefore, you can pick any rider you like, but if you want to take Kristian Koren, for example (his suspension ends in 2021), he got 41 points in 2019, but that is a partial season as his ban ended mid-season. His positive result and suspension came from 2019, meaning his last 'full' season was 2018, in which he scored 91 points. He scored fewer points in his 'partial' 2019 season, so his cost is his last 'full' season. But if he had scored, say, 300 points in 2019, that would be his cost instead.
Hopefully the lists I've provided and the rules are clear enough, but if you make an error I will try to let you know if any of your submissions fall into this category.
**NOTE: I have made a specific rule to deal with the unique case of Dylan Groenewegen, who is facing a long suspension for a non-doping offense. Briefly, he is to be treated the same as dopers, available for his 2019 cost for both the 2021 and 2022 editions of the game.
2.2. Riders getting caught during the season
If you include a rider in your team who gets caught with his hands in the cookie jar, nothing happens right away. Your rider keeps his points unless the cqranking.com deletes his results before the end of the game.
Basically, the value of a rider on cqranking.com always stands.
3. Submitting your team
3.1. How do I?
You pick between 25 and 33 riders whose combined value doesn’t exceed 7500 points and send the list to me.
As I will manually have to include the teams into the Microsoft Excel file which keeps track of the scores, please be careful that you send your team to me based on the correct formula. I don’t take any responsibility for any error you might make. If I spot an error I will do my best to contact you but I can’t guarantee anything. Of course, if you have any questions feel free to ask either here in this thread or by sending a personal message.
The layout you need to use is this:
ROGLIC Primoz
POGACAR Tadej
Etc.
Nothing else. No point scores after the name. Also, be careful that there is no “space” after the name, because I will have to delete it manually, but can't always detect these things in time for the game. If there is an error that isn't discovered until after the game starts, and that error makes your team ineligible (eg. if it puts your team over the limit) the rider will simply be deleted from the team without replacement.
To make things easier for both you and me I will link to a file for you to download in which you can type in your team and it will automatically show you the value of each rider as well as the aggregated value of your team. Then you will just have to copy your team (names only) directly from this file and send it to me.
Hopefully this clears any misunderstandings of a rider’s value as well as reduces the number of errors made in a team sent to me.
3.2. When do I?
NOTE: the first race of the season is now January 31st, so I want teams by January 29th. That is one week later than the original post.
There are two deadlines: a submission deadline and a revision/publication deadline, spaced 24 hours apart. This is to address the issue brought up in recent years about whether it is 'fair' to allow changes after teams have seen the teams of other players, and for 'late' submissions. I would like to make this a game that is accessible to as many people as possible, yet preserve that element of fairness. So, the submission deadline will be when I want to have received all the teams. The revision and publication deadline is to allow a 24-hour period for me to look over the teams and allow a chance to people to change their team in case of error, before having access to a list of riders that other teams picked. If you get mixed up with the time zone or unexpectedly don't have internet access around the submission deadline, I will accept teams up to the revision deadline at my discretion, but if allowed those teams will not have the chance to revise in case of error.
Please note that even though the racing season is over, it is always possible that CQ will adjust points for an earlier season race for whatever reason (eg. readjusting points for suspended dopers) Be mindful of these changes.
cqranking.com usually uploads the final update of the season on December 31, and the values in this update are the ones we’re using. However, the changes are usually very small so there’s no reason why you can’t start selecting your team already today!
Disclaimer: ensuring your team is full of eligible riders and is on budget is your responsibility. If I notice you are over budget or have an ineligible rider I will send you a message, but if you don't get back to me in time, or I don't catch it before the deadline, I will simply remove one rider to make your budget work. Obviously it is to your advantage to be able to choose all your riders, so please be diligent.
Create Your Team
Hugo created a very helpful file in 2012, referred to above, that helps avoid any errors in calculation and helps ensure you are formatting your rider names correctly. I would encourage everyone to use this option, especially if you are not confident in your spreadsheet creating skills. Please use the file attached here to create your team, then copy and paste the rider names to send to me by PM once you have it correct. Thank you.
note: the 'create your team' file has not yet been manually updated to include different scores for dopers as per rule 2.1, so it is currently wholly your responsibility to account for this.
I think that about covers everything. If you have any questions or if I forgot to add or explain anything, please let me know.
Last edited:
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